Scraper



H. G. BUTLER.

SGRAPER.

(No Model.)

Patented May 15,1894.

znr W lIt Hlm

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY G. BUTLER, OF KENOSHA, WISCONSIN.

SCRAPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 519,835, dated May 15, 1894.

Application tiled January 27, 1394. Serial No. 498,208. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY G. BUTLER, a citiaen of the United States, residing at Kenosha, 1n the county of Kenosha and State of Wiscousin, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Scrapers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the class of scrapers adapted to be operated b y steam or horse power for earth excavation, as in digging sewers, and the like, and, 1n burning earthy substances to make ballast, for scooping from the ground the dirt to be deposited on the pile or fire My present construction of scraper is designed, more particularly, to afford an improvement on the scraper for which Letters Patent of the United States No. 493,421 were granted to me on the 14th day of March,1893.

According to the construction set forth in my aforesaid patent, the plow-bar at the open end of the body-portion of the scraper, bent between its ends to incline downward and forward toward its forward edge whence its teeth incline upward and forward, is bent to right-angles toward its opposite ends to afford side-pieces at which to secure the plow to the sides of the body-portion of the scraper. This construction presents certain disadvantages in the matters of adjustment of the teeth and operation of the scraper, principal among which may be mentioned the following: The vertical end-pieces render difficult the matter of forging the bar to reset the teeth at the dierent angles to which they require to be set for different kinds or conditions of the dirt to be dug, and for which forging operation the plow is removed; they thicken the sides of the body-portion, to which they are fastened, to an extent which causes them to obstruct very materially the movement of the scraper in digging; and the rigid fastening they necessitate of the plow to the sides of the body-portion prevents the plow, in dumping the scraper by dropping its hinged base, from swinging upward between the sides to more eifectually, by thus tilting, clear itself of the dirt upon it. Besides, these end-pieces unduly encumber the scraper, the edges of Y the forward sides of which, without the endpieces on the plow, may the better be sharpcned by beveling from their inner sides laterally outward to enhance the clearance of the scraper by forming comparatively thin side-cutters.

The particular object of my present improvement with relation to the plow, is to construct it, omitting the bentend pieces,in a manner to avoid the disadvantages and produce the advantages referred to. The construction of the rear catch in my aforesaid patented device is found, in practice, to render it liable to become clogged with dirt in dumping, thereby tending to prevent its desired automatic action in fastening the free end of the hinged scraper-bottom to the bodyportion when the scraper has been caused to right itself after having been dumped. This diiicultyl overcome bya novel construction of the catch-mechanism, in which the engag ing members of the catch-device present beveled cutting edges co-operating to exert a cutting action to clean themselves.

Referring to the accompanying drawings- Figure l shows my improved scraper by a broken view in side elevation. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the hinged scraper-bottom provided at one end with my improved construction of plow and at its opposite end with one of the engaging members of my improved catch-device. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the means for hinging the scraper-bottom to i the body-portion of the scraper; and Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the catch-member illustrated in Fig. .V

Ais the body-portion of the scraper, shown as of general rectangular shape and comprising the sides and back, formed preferably of a single sheet of metal bent into the desired form. At the forward end of the body-portion the edge of each side is rendered concave, as shown at t, from a point below its vertical center downward, and these concave edges may be beveled from the inner to their outer sides to adapt them the better for cutting; and the lower forward corner-portions of the sides are extended at corresponding angles downward and forward to penetrate the ground at the sides of the cut to the desired depth.

B is the scraper-bottom comprising a flat sheet of metal formed, near its forward end, with a transverse Iprrugation r aording a shaft-bearing, whence the bottom inclines loo downward kto its forward edge atan angle corresponding with that of the bar of the plow C, fastened to it, as hereinafter described. The plow C comprises a single straight bar o of plow-steel having iii one edge teeth p, preferably of the shape illustrated, each with its cutting-edges formed by beveling, as at q, laterally outward and downward, the bevel be ing also formed between the teeth. The plowbar is bent alongaline extending throughout its length behind the teeth to cause the latter to project at an obtuse angle from the bar, as, or substantially as, represented in Fig. 2. With the bar o fastened to the correspondingly inclined end of the bottom B, as by riveting, as represented,and bybeingreinforced from underneath bya riveted plate 0', which forms the under bearing for the hinge-shaft 'n in the eorriigation fr', the forward and down-I ward tipping of the plow-bar causes the teeth 19 by dropping the scraper fiatwise on its bottoni, the better to engage the ground and cut their way through the soil.

The hinge-shaft n is supported at its ends in bearings n fastened in proper position to the inner surfaces of the opposite sides of the body-portion A. Thus, as will be seen, acomparatively light plow is aorded with the teeth set to the best advantage, the pitch of which may be changed readily by forging to adapt them best to their work in different kinds or conditions of earth, without adding -material obstruction at-the sides of the bodyportion to the progress of the scraper in its operation. Moreover, the construction enables the plow to form a part of the hinged scraper-bottom to swing with the latter on its Vhinge in dumping, when it assumes an inclined position between the sides of the bodyportion, whereby it tends the better to free from itself the portion of the load upon it.

D is my improved catch. It comprises a member 'm formed of a metal bar bent to a right-angle and fastened to the hinged bottom B, near its longitudinal center, to extend at its vertical portion beyond the rear edge of the bottom, the vertical portion being V-shaped in cross-section, with the apex facing backward, and terminating in a shoulder m; and the other member Z of the `catch is in the form of a bell-crank lever fulcrumed on the back of the body-portion, with the arm below the fulcrum, V-shaped inV cross-section, presenting the apex forward, and terminating in a shoulder Z to engage with the shoulder m of the member m. To the upper end of the bellcrank member Z is loosely fastened one end of a spring 7c having its opposite end similarly fastened to one arm of a bell-crank 11 fulcrumed to the carrying-bail 7i of the scraper. Between the other arm of the bell-crank and the back of the scraper extends a spring g.

By pulling a rope or cord f connected with the bell-crank t', it is turned to cause the strain on the spring .7c to p'ull the catch-memberZ out of engagement with the companion-member m. The spring k is under compression;

and on releasing the rope f, the spring g returns the bell-crank t' back to its normal position, wherein the spring lo holds the catchmember Z yieldingly in its position for engagement with the companion member rm.. Thus the scraper may be dumped by a pull on the rope f to permit the bottom B to fall on its hinge; and when the scraper is lowered to the ground to rest upon its bottom, the

weight of the body-portion Abrings the beveled heads of the catch-members together, and the resiliency of the member l permits it to snap over` the companion-member to engage the respective shoulders.

As will be seen, any of the dirt which may stick to or about the catch in a manner to ob- 1 Y struct the engagement of the catch-members, Will be penetrated by the apexes of their shank-portions and thus overcome. It will also be apparent, as an advantage of my improved construction of catch-mechanism, that when the scraper-bottom is properly loclred by the catch, the connected ends of the spring 7c and bell-cranks are on adead-center, whereby a safety-lock is afforded, and danger from injury by premature dumping to men operating the scraper accordingly lessened.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A scraper formed with a body-portion open at its forward end, in combination with a plow at the open end comprising a straight metal bar extending horizontally throughout its length between the sides of the body-portion and having .in its forward edge cutterteeth and bent lengthwise along the rear of the teeth to incline downward and forward toward its cutter edge, and the teeth thence inclining upward, substantially as described.

2. A scraper formed with a body-portion Yopen at its forward end, in combination with a bottom hinged to the body-portion near its open end, fastening means for the rear end of the bottom, and a plow on the forward end of and swinging with the hinged bottom said plow comprising a metal bar inclining downward from the forward end of said bottom and having in its forward edge relatively iipward-inclining cutter-teeth, substantially as described.

3. A scraper formed with a body-portion open at its forward end, in combination with a bottom having near its forward end a transverse corrugation r and thence inclining downward and forward, a hinge-shaft n supported in bearings n on the sides of the bodyportion and pivotally carrying the bottom at said corrugation, a plate o fastened to the bottom and affording a lower bearing for the hinge-shaft, a plow C comprising abar Q Yfastened between said plate o and the forward inclined portion of the bottom and having in its forward edge relatively upward inclining cutter-teeth, and fastening-means for the rear end of the bottom, substantially as described.

4. A scraper formed with a body-portion open at its forward end, in combination with IOO ISO

a plow at the open end, a bottom hinged to the body-portion near its forward end, and a spring-catch device for the rear end of the bottom, having one member on the said bottom and a companion-member on the bodyportion, said members having oppositely facing beveled co-operating cutting edges, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. A scraper formed with a body-portion open at its forward end, in combination with y a plow at the open end, a bottom hinged to the body-portion near its forward end, and a spring-catch device for the rear end of the bottom, comprising one member on the said bottom and a companion member on the body-portion, said members being V-shaped in cross-section, substantially as and for the purpose forth.

6. A scraper formed with abody-portion open at its forward end, in combination with a plow at the open end, a bottom hinged to the body-portion near its forward end, and a springcatch device comprising a member m, rigidly fastened to the bottom and having a shoulder m', and a spring-controlled bellcrank member Z fulcrumed on the back of the body-portion and having a shoulder l', the said members being V-shaped in crosssection, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. A scraper formed with a body-portion open at its forward end, in combination with a plow at the open end, a bottom hinged to the body-portion near its forward end, and spring-catch mechanism comprising a member fm. rigidly fastened to the bottom and having a shoulder m', a bell-crank member Zfulcrumed on the back of the bodyportion and having a shoulder Z', said `members being V- shaped in cross-section, a bell-crank fi fulcrumed on the carrying-bail h of the scraper, a spring lo connecting the two bell-cranks, and a spring g connecting the bell-crank z' with the rear of the body-portion, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

y HENRY G. BUTLER.

In presence of- M. J. FROST, W. N. WILLIAMS. 

